How to get a (partial) refund on your non-refundable hotel bookings

I know that a lot of readers are sitting on potential losses from non-refundable hotel bookings they have made and cannot now use.  If the hotel is open and trading then you have no right to a refund (unless the chain has a brand-wide policy) and you would need to fall back on your travel insurance.

Reader Simon sent me a clever trick he has used to cut his losses, although not eliminate them.

Simon had various hotels booked via Hotels.com for this Summer.  They were booked on non-refundable rates and the hotels are open, so he is not entitled to a refund even though he is no longer able to travel.

However, Hotels.com offers a price match guarantee.  See here for full details.

If a hotel you have booked is now being sold for less, either on Hotels.com or another website, Hotels.com will refund the difference.

In Simon’s case, he found that the non-refundable bookings he made earlier in the year were, on average, now 35% cheaper.  He submitted a price match guarantee to Hotels.com and was paid back promptly.

He is still sitting on a loss from his non-refundable hotels rooms, of course, but the loss is 35% lower than it would have been if he hadn’t invoked the guarantee.

You can learn more about the Hotels.com Price Match Guarantee here.  Other booking platforms may have something similar.

Hotel offers update – December 2021:

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Want to buy hotel points? There is currently a special offer running with IHG Rewards (80% bonus to 4th January 2022) and World of Hyatt (30% discount, equivalent to a 43% bonus, to 30th December 2021).